Students with disabilities (SWDs) in the United States have a right to the least restrictive learning environment as enshrined in federal law. Until recently, conceptions about educating SWDs have drawn from medical models of disability (i.e., that the student must be accommodated to interact with the environment) rather than a social model of…

A priority of music educators across the globe continues to be the incorporation of music from various cultures into the classroom. In this article, the term "authenticity" is introduced as it applies to music education. Authentic music teaching experiences for use in the classroom from the West African Ewe music, Cuban cha-cha-chá, and…

Musical expression is often not explicitly addressed in secondary instrumental rehearsals due to the perception of expression as an obscure concept and the instructional time constraints on music educators. Secondary music educators, however, are encouraged to discuss expressive performance goals with instrumental students from the beginning of…

Group improvisation encourages students to improvise in a collective setting to build confidence in their individual and group improvisational skills. In this article, I describe group improvisation methods that offer an accessible entry into creative music-making for learners in secondary school instrumental ensembles. Instructional…

Wind band has a deep and long-lasting connection to folk-song sources. Societal expectations around music choices and sources are changing, including calls to diversify repertoire and eliminate traditional songs that include offensive language and stereotypes. Concerns about music usage in relation to cultural appropriation are also being…

The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards released standards for music education in 2014. These standards are guided by artistic processes and measured by performance standards specific to content areas and grade levels. As school districts in the United States adopt the Core Arts Standards for their music programs, it is imperative that…

Much like an effective speaker, a flexible musician is competent across multiple settings. The sociolinguistic theory of code-switching can be a useful tool to better understand how musicians acquire a set of skills and knowledge to support music-making in a range of activities in and outside of school and throughout society. In this article,…

Recognizing that music teachers may struggle to implement songwriting activities in a classroom, and that iconic notation provides an opportunity to increase access to school music for all students, the purpose of this article is to share one model of songwriting activities in a music technology class using chord diagrams, beat grids, and keyboard…

Playing musical instruments represents an engaging and important feature of music-making for children. Music teachers can support students with physical differences and disabilities using inclusive mindsets and practices, such as making adaptations to the instruments or the playing style. If teachers are aware of the variety of options available,…

Many K-12 teachers face hurdles when it comes to running a Modern Band, including the pedagogical challenges of facilitating large scale ensembles with unfamiliar repertoire and instruments. Approximation and scaffolding are two important tools teachers can use to help learners thrive in this environment. This article uses music examples to…

How do we motivate students to practice and persist when facing challenges inherent in learning to play an instrument? In this article, I synthesize research findings into strategies to encourage students' mastery goal orientations and intrinsic motivation. Educators can use these strategies in the classroom or as inspiration to create innovative…

Selecting excellent literature for a small or unbalanced band can be challenging, especially if the ensemble is ready to perform literature beyond Grade 2.5. This article describes a process for choosing high-quality repertoire for the small band, focusing on high school/college groups. Also examined is how to analyze and alter pieces to fit the…

Improvisation-based exercises may be the key to unlocking students' innate musical creativities. This article focuses on two exercises--drone improvisation and circle stringing--that can be easily integrated into the orchestra curriculum and adapted to the learning needs of the individual student, small-ensemble, and large-ensemble settings. Of…

This article describes a sequential approach to improvisation teaching that can be used with students at various age and ability levels by any educator, regardless of improvisation experience. The 2014 National Core Music Standards include improvisation as a central component in musical learning and promote instructional approaches that are…

This article presents a three-pronged strategy for teaching collective improvisation in the general music classroom through structured surround soundscapes. This strategy consists of developing socio-interactive skills, shared understanding, and personal music vocabulary in collective improvisation. In the music classroom, these concepts should be…